How “social” are you? How “social” should you be?

At a dental meeting recently, I sat in on a session about “social media” ie. Facebook, Twitter, blogging, etc. The casual observer might have been lead to believe that social media would cure all marketing problems in a practice.

Contrast that to another presentation I attended for CEO’s from around the country, in which the CEO of a major multi-media company in the southwest confessed that they had invested millions in social media to promote their business, but had not been able to measure any favorable marketing results from those efforts and investment.

So who do you believe?

The reality is this:

1. The # 1 form of marketing in dentistry remains word-of-mouth. That is how people prefer to choose their dentist. Social media is a great, additional way that you can give your patients the opportunity to spread the word about you to all their social media contacts.

2. Think of social media as an add-on to your INTERNAL marketing strategy. It can harness the power of your existing patient base.

3. As always, keep asking new patients where they heard about you. From a friend? On the internet? From a friend on the internet?! Keep digging and you’ll find out more and more of where they REALLY came from.

4. Remember that social media is not a silver bullet that will solve all your marketing problems, but just one more piece of the total practice marketing equation. Make it easy for people to talk about you in any format and they will be more likely to do it!

So, be more social. It may not be everything, but it is something!

Make sure to catch the upcoming Crown Council webinar: Social Media Fact and Fiction: The do’s and do not's of social media TODAY and how to use it the RIGHT WAY to build your practice, featuring Jack Hadley from Lava7.

For registration information, call 1-877-399-8677 or e-mail Answers@TotalPatientService.com

Staying Insurance Free

It is a common phone call I receive from fee-for-service practices: “Should I sign up to be a provider with XYZ Dental Insurance?”

If you are fee-for-service only, the reason you would even consider being a provider with any insurance company would be because:

1. You want to increase production or

2. You want to increase new patient flow or

3. You want to increase profits or

4. You want to do all of the above!

In every case we have addressed this question we find that other, more important questions, have not been asked. Questions like:

1. What is our current marketing plan and the return we are getting on our best marketing sources? What would happen if we increased our marketing budget in those areas? Would it increase the new patient flow?

2. What is our “calls to scheduled new patients ratio?” Unless it is at or above 130%, there are missed new patient opportunities.

3. What is our treatment plan to scheduled appointment ratio? Are we really capitalizing on every case acceptance opportunity?

4. What is our external marketing internet strategy? How many internet leads do we get a month and how many are we converting them into schedule appointments?

5. What is our internal marketing social media strategy? To what degree are we giving our existing patients the opportunity to "talk" about us on-line?

6. What is our community marketing strategy and how many community impressions are we making throughout the year?

7. What percentage of our total practice production are we spending on marketing? A successful fee-for-service practice may need to spend up to 10% on marketing while a PPO practice may spend 2 to 4%.

8. What other fee-for-service treatments could we add to our practice that would add revenue? Modular Periodontal Therapy™, TruDenta™, Invisalign™, Six Month Smiles™, sleep apnea treatment, placing implants, etc.

That is just a start. If you have gone to the enormous work of successfully converting to fee-for-service or have been that way for a long time, think long and hard before signing on. Signing up is the solution of last resort after having explored all the other options.

Patient compliance signs. A radical approach:

I don’t know about you, but when I walk into the physician’s
office, I can’t believe the posted signs at the front desk:

“Payment is expected when services are performed.”

“You must update your insurance information at each visit.”

“Cell phones must be turned of in the exam area.”

Etc. etc.

You need a rulebook to go to the doctor.

Why not be a different kind of dental office and take an
unexpected and fun approach to these every day issues:

Tear all the signs
down…NOW!

Put one new sign up periodically for fun. Signs like these:

"HIPPA Notice:
We can’t tell anyone that you’re here, but you can! Make sure to check into our office on Facebook right now and let all your friends know you go to the best dentist in town!”

"Payment Policy: You no longer have to pay for treatment at the time of your visit! Make sure to ask us about convenient payment options that will put a smile on your face.”

"Cell Phone Policy: We value your time. Keep your phone ON and feel free
to text and e-mail while you wait. If you are one of the few who still talks on the phone, make sure to put it on speaker! We’d like to invite your friends to come see us too!”

Remember: If people like themselves better when they are in your office, they will want to repeat and refer. Don’t be the traditional, stuffy, stodgy, no-fun-to-be-with health professional. Put a smile on your patient's face and they will tell everyone about you.

The Dr. Oz Defense Plan

What does Dr. Oz know about dentistry? Apparently not much! But you do!

Most of dentistry has just about had it with Dr. Oz. The television doctor personality continues to disseminate misleading dental information like dental x-rays cause thyroid cancer and recommending that patients negotiate with their dentist for lower fees. I am sure there will be more.

With a daily show to produce, I am sure there is a back room of producers working tirelessly to come up with something they think people will find of interest. Sometimes these producers get desperate.

If you get riled up about Dr. Oz, consider the following thoughts and actions:

1. Much of what is produced on this show is created by front line producers who are not too deep into facts. They are trying to be creative. Sometimes they are more creative than they are factual.

2. The target audience for the Dr. Oz Show is older women of the 60 year old plus variety. Not very many other people have the time to watch his show which airs during the work day. Unless you are a die-hard follower and you TiVO his show, the market is relatively limited.

3. Take a proactive stance. Keep an eye on anything that comes out in the media about dentistry. Be the local authority and set the record straight. Have information in your practice about what the truth really is about things that may have been broadcast or printed in the national media. Your patients will appreciate your being up-to-date and addressing what is going on today.

4. Negotiate fees? Why don’t you suggest people do that with their physician Dr. Oz? Oh, that’s because most physicians have no clue what they charge for anything. They have lost total control of their business model. I think Oz and his fellow physicians that lost their way from the “Emerald City” are just jealous!

5. Need a response for the occasional patient that wants to negotiate fees? “Mrs. Jones, we carefully set our fees once and explain them to our patients so we would never have to apologize for the quality of our work.” Everyone knows that you get what you pay for.

6. Get focused on what is working, not on what is not working. The effect that someone like Dr. Oz has on the whole market is minimal. When you get one or two comments from patients about things that sound related, it is easy to think it is a bigger problem than it really is. Focus on the patients that get it. Don’t give the small minority of patients more share of your mind than they deserve.

With that, I am off to Kansas…the real place Dorothy lived. After all, the whole “Oz” thing and the “Emerald City” were a dream, not reality. Remember? We should all treat Dr. Oz the same way.

How Do You Compete?

At our recent Crown Council Annual Event in Las Vegas, I highlighted some businesses worth emulating. One of my favorites is the Donut Stop in Amarrillo, Texas. Founders, Rose Martha and Jim Cates provide a great case study on how to stay competitive.

Their story is well-known in Amarillo. The hometown chain (Donut Stop) was put on notice when Krispy Kreme announced their entry into Amarrillo. Jim immediately packed his bags and went on a tour of Krispy Kreme locations around the country to see what they did well and what they did not do well. He returned with the data and they formed a new strategy.

In short, The Donut Stop attacked with what they did well that Krispy Kreme could not do at all. They accentuated their assets that were difficult to duplicate. The strategy was so successful that Krispy Kreme soon left town.

The mistake in “competition” is trying to outdo the other by doing what they do a little better. The Donut Stop didn’t even try to compete with Kripsy Kreme head to head. They looked for the differences and capitalized on them.

So the next time you are tempted to copy the office down the street and try to do what they do, but just a little better, STOP! Look for the things you do that the competition does not do and accentuate those assets that are difficult to duplicate. You’ll have a better chance of standing out from the rest and customers will beat a path to your door.

Secrets from your local optometrist

I spoke to a large group of optometrists this week from Cleinman Performance Partners. Cleinman is the “Crown Council” of optometry.

What optometrists and dentists have in common is the

“face space.” When it comes to first impressions, the first two things people notice are the eyes and the teeth. While the health of the eyes is a patient’s concern when they see an optometrist, they also want to know how their eye sight will make them look to others. Especially with women, who make up the majority of the optometry market, an eye lens prescription is permission to accessorize!

What happens in optometry is what is happening in dentistry every day. While most people are concerned about the health of their mouth and their teeth, they also want to know that their smile is going to look good.

As you expand your market share of the “face space,” consider your local independent optometrist. Working together to cross market your services just makes sense. Most people interested in improving the appearance of their teeth will be interested in their eyes. The opposite is also true.

For an introduction to a top independent optometrist in your area, e-mail your request to Answers@TotalPatientSerice.com We will work with the Cleinman team to get you introduced and connected so you can begin working together for the better health and appearance of the “face space” of the patients in your market.

“But It Doesn’t Hurt…”

You have probably lost count of the times patients have responded this way to the diagnosis of periodontal disease. Human nature and how patients have been trained in medicine dictates that there is ONLY something wrong when it hurts. After all, for years the first question the physician asks a patient has been “what are your symptoms” or “where does it hurt?”

Moving patients from a “fix what is broken” mentality to a “prevent it from getting broken in the first place” is a tall order in dentistry. So before you hear the, “But it doesn’t hurt” objection one more time, here are 2 tips to implement immediately to help your patients make the shift from “hurt” to “health.”

1. Watch how you present the problem in the first place. Instead of TELLING a patient they have a problem, ASK the patient, “How long have you had this infection?” Then let the patient respond. Just by virtue of how you present the problem, the patient will take more ownership of his or her condition.

2. Watch how you respond. If they say, “It does not hurt,” you can respond by saying, “I am always amazed how an infection this serious never hurts until it is too late. In fact, in dentistry we call this condition the silent killer of teeth because it rarely hurts until it is too late to save the teeth.”

Don’t miss the next opportunity to have your team experience the next revolution in the treatment of periodontal disease on March 30-31, 2012 in Dallas, TX as Dr. Tommy Nabors and members of our ToPS team present “No More Dental Hygiene – Secrets of Oral Health and Periodontal Therapy.” In this two-day program, you’ll discover a whole new perio program that has turned Dr. Nabor’s perio department into a million dollar treatment center. It will transform your practice. Bust most importantly, it will transform the lives of your patients.

For more information on the March course, call 1-877-399-8677 or e-mail: Answers@TotalPatientService.com

Do I have to?

There are a lot of things in life that catch us saying to ourselves “Do I have to?” That list would include: taking out the garbage, working out, cleaning the garage, doing your taxes, etc., etc., etc.

Staying on the path of success requires just that…staying on the path! Keeping everything going in the direction it is supposed to go is one of the biggest accomplishments and tasks that there is.

Over the last twenty-two years, we have worked with thousands of dental practices around the world. While it would be nice if working on the practice once would fix it forever, it is a journey, not a destination.

With that in mind, we just launched one of the most useful tools we think you will find to keep your entire team on the path of success. It is called “The Skill of the Week.” On a regular basis, we will be releasing a short on-line video featuring an essential case acceptance skill that the entire team needs to master and keep mastered. You can watch individually or as a team. There are exercises and implementation suggestions as well. Staying on track with the skill of the week will keep the entire team engaged in the things that you need to do to be successful every day with patients.

The Skill of the Week is produced by the Total Patient Service Institute and made available through the Crown Council (www.CrownCouncil.info)

Crown Council members have immediate access at www.CrownCouncil.org. Others can contact us at 1-877-399-8677 or Answers@TotalPatientService.com for immediate access.

Its just one more resource to help you make your practice ToPS!

A Habit for 2012 Success

I spent some time this week with a group of dental students from all over the world at the Alpha Omega International Dental Convention. We discussed the Common Denominator of Success - the things that make dentists and professionals in general successful.

Among the many factors that create the Common Denominator of Success is habit. One of those habits is setting and reaching goals. For over 20 years, I have asked 4 basic questions that are the standard for staying on track with goals. Ask yourself how closely you adhere to these 4 questions:

1. Do you have goals?

2. Are your goals written down?

3. Do you review your goals every day?

4. Do you keep them with you or have them in a place where you can see them every day?

There is some magic in being able to answer all of those questions with a “yes.”

Several years ago I was speaking at the gathering of three high schools in New Braunfels, Texas when I asked all of those 4 questions to the graduating seniors. There was only one student who was able to answer all four questions with a “yes.” Upon further inquiry, he shared that his father had taught him this goal setting system when he was in middle school. As a result, he set his sights high and was able to take state in track and get a full ride scholarship to the university of his choice. There are more stories like that than I could ever have time to write.

There is some magic in making a decision and sticking with it until it has been accomplished. The biggest step is the first step -- decide and then write it down.

Have a Happy New Year as you decide, write, review and accomplish in 2012.

Which side of the fence?

Have you ever had a moment when you were very grateful for past decisions you made because of the position it has put you in now, that you never anticipated?

I have thought many times over the last couple of years, how grateful every dentist should be that he or she chose dentistry as a profession, instead of medicine and its related cousins, for the pure fact that dentistry continues to allow you the independence and freedom to practice how you want, where you want, and charge what you want without government

intervention.

This fact was brought to my attention this week as I sat with many of the top leaders of the optometry world. Optometry is stuck in the middle of the healthcare battle with private insurance on one side and government healthcare on the other. If optometry has its way, it will go the way of the rest of medicine and be part of the total healthcare equation with government involvement. Why? Because government reimbursement for eye care services is more favorable than private insurance…for now. No telling what it will be in the future. With the future so fuzzy in terms of government’s long-term involvement in healthcare, it is a tough decision to make because of all of the future unknowns.

But for dentistry, staying independent and out of the government healthcare debate is a good place to be. Stay informed. Stay vigilant. Protect the freedom of the profession.

Who is in your Kitchen Cabinet?

In 1831 President Andrew Jackson dismissed five of the eight people in his official cabinet. Many accused the president of being overly influenced by what they called the president’s “kitchen cabinet” or close friends who advised the president informally behind the scenes. Since that time, “kitchen cabinet” has been the term that describes the “real” advisors that the president relies on the most that have the most influence.

We just spent the last few days in the ToPS “kitchen” at our Annual Planning Round Table where dentists met for most of the time in groups of 8 to 10 with specific discussion topics and practice problems to solve. They each served as the other’s “kitchen cabinet.”

The ToPS Round Table meetings have become one of the most valued assets participating dentist have. A sounding board of objective peers who are willing to share their own experience, gives the participant a broader base of options to chose from as they develop their future plans. As they say, “Two heads are better than one!”

Join us for our next ToPS Round Table on June 14-16, 2012 where we will help you assemble a kitchen cabinet of your own that may be the key to your future success.

For more information on the ToPS Round Table, give the ToPS team a call at 1-877-399-8677.

A “Thanks” to Build Your Business…

It seems like everywhere I go in the country there are those who cannot resist talking about the “economy.” It seems to be the best excuse for why their business is not doing well.

Blaming the “economy” is just one more way to “live in lack.” It is the constant counting of all the things one does not have. And the more “lack” you see, the more “lack” you get. It makes you feel miserable and then you make everyone around you feel miserable as you talk about… "the economy.”

Consider instead a study pioneered by Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough highlighted in the New York Times this week and detailed in Dr. Emmons book entitled Thanks! In their study, they asked a group of people to keep a journal of things for which they felt grateful. After two months, the journal keepers felt happier, more optimistic, had fewer physical problems, and spent more time exercising than did their counter-parts in the control group who did not keep a gratitude journal. The gratitude group also got better quality sleep at night!

It is funny how we sometimes need science to validate what we already know deep down to be true. Having an attitude of gratitude is a better way to live and leads to a better quality of life in every area, compared to living a life of lack.

So as you kicked off your holiday season with Thanksgiving, make giving thanks a regular habit. You’ll feel better and it will make the people around you feel better too!

Acres of Diamonds

I have known Dr. Tim and Kathy Droege from Breese, IL for nearly 16 years. They have a thriving practice in their rural farming community of 3,200 people. Kathy grew up there and the two of them met at a nearby University. They started a practice from scratch 25 years ago after being told that there was not enough dentistry for them to do there.

This week, I had the opportunity to go to Breese for the first time and film an upcoming Crown Council “Practice of the Month” feature.* Despite what the Droege’s were told 25 years ago, they have built one of the finest practices in America. By understanding their patients, offering exceptional service, and offering dental services that are not available for miles, they have become THE practice not only in their town, but THE practice for miles around.

The Droege’s remind me of “Acres of Diamonds” popularized years ago by Russell Conwell, founder of Temple University. The story is about a farmer who sold his farm to go in search of diamonds. He searched all over the world for years only to die broke and discouraged. Meanwhile, the buyer of his farm discovered one of the largest diamond mines in history on the same land the first farmer had sold to him. What the first farmer looked for all over the world was sitting right under his feet.

The Droege’s found their diamond mine right under their feet in Breese, IL. There’s nothing magic about Breese – they made the magic happen there.
What is sitting right under your feet that you may be gazing for off in the distance? There is no magic out there. You make the magic happen…right where you are. If it can be done in Breese, IL – it can be done anywhere! So start digging – right where you are!

* Make sure to catch the full presentation of the Crown Council Practice of the Month featuring the Droege’s practice coming soon on www.CrownCouncil.org.

Compensation

While in Toronto this week speaking at the Toronto Academy of Dentistry, we discussed The Law of Compensation which says: Help people get more of what they want and less of what they don’t want and you won’t have to worry about what you want.”

I believe that any business or person that benefits from the patronage of the people in any type of community has an obligation to give back to that community in some way.

As an example of that principle, I was delighted to invite Will to the stage in Toronto. Will is a twenty-one year old young man who has benefited from the services of “About Face,” a charitable organization in Toronto that helps children correct cleft pallet, hair lip, and other facial issues. Not only has Will’s quality of life improved by the surgical and counseling services of “About Face,” but he has chosen to donate a portion of his time back to the organization to help other kids who are now going through the same process. Will received, and now he’s giving back.

Translate that law into everyday business practice and we find that 67% of consumers choose to do business with an organization that is involved in some type of cause related marking over the competition. Cause related marking is where you are involved in some type of charitable cause or activity.

Recently, our own Smiles for Life Foundation (www.SmilesForLife.org) surpassed the huge milestone of having raised and donated $30 million to children’s charities around the world. Millions of children have benefited from the efforts of Crown Council dental teams who raise the money each year by whitening patients’ teeth who in turn make a charitable donation. It is a win-win for everyone.

If you have never been involved with Smiles for Life, now is the time to sign up for the campaign that starts in the spring of 2012. For more information on how you can get involved, log on to www.MySmilesForLife.com or call the Crown Council at 1-800-CROWN-58. If you have done Smiles for Life before, now is the time to start planning a successful campaign.

A well-known verse in the Bible says, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” Those who practice dentistry have been given a lot. And so, we need to give back.

Join us in the upcoming Smiles for Life campaign as we do good by giving back.

Options and Odds

The Natural Law of Options says that the more options I have to choose from as a consumer, the less likely I am to make a decision. That’s why presenting patients with too many treatment options for THEM to choose from only creates confusion and inaction.

But consider this twist: the more options YOU have to draw from to provide a solution that fits your patient’s exact situation, the greater the odds that you are going to hear a “Yes.” For example, the greater your clinical skills, the more you are prepared to provide the exact treatment the patient needs instead of having to refer it out.

Consider the same principle in financial arrangements. How many different ways do you have for patients to pay for treatment? The more alternatives you have prepared, the greater the odds are that you will have something you can present that will fit their exact financial situation.

Take a moment right now and think or write down all of the different financial options you have available for your patients. How many do you have? Three or four? When I ask people to go through this exercise, I usually get a list like this: Cash, check, credit card or some type of patient financing. (We recommend that you have at least three forms of third-party financing available…not just one.)

So if your patient can’t pay for it today, they don’t have enough credit on a credit card and they don’t qualify for third party financing, you and your patient are out of luck, right? Right…if those are all the options you can provide them.

But, what would happen if you had 10, 20, or even 50 different options at your disposal that you could use to find a solution to their specific financial situation? What would your odds be now? I think you would agree that they would significantly increase.

If you want to significantly increase your odds of financial arrangement success, join us for a special Crown Council webinar “50 Ways to Pay” on Monday, November 14 at noon Central where Total Patient Service Practice Advisor Tanya Bailey and myself will review 50 different ways that patients have paid for treatment. It will include an update on the latest developments from some of the top third party finance programs as well creative ways you may have never thought of for patients to pay for treatment.

If you have not already received an email invitation to register for the webinar, contact us today via e-mail: Answers@TotalPatientSerice.com or call 1-877-399-8677 today for more information. It will be a valuable hour packed with financial options that will significantly increase your odds of success.

Outrageous

One of my mentors is Scott Gross, author of Positively Outrageous Service and a library of other great books. Scott and I were neighbors (kind of) during the ten years that I lived in the Texas Hill Country. I lived in Hunt, Texas and he lived in Center Point!

I was reminded of Scott this week as I sat down at a Chili’s in Goshen, IN the night before doing a presentation to the local dental society. I was with Stuart from the Crown Council and as our server, Stephanie approached with a welcoming smile, I told her that Stuart had come all the way across the country especially for some of Chili’s delicious chips and salsa. She grinned and said she would make sure to take care of his request. In a few minutes she came back with not one, but two baskets of chips and salsa; a regular size basket for me and a JUMBO size basket with two cups of salsa for Stuart!

Later as she brought our check at the end of the meal, she included two large bags of chips to take with us with two containers of salsa and thanked us for coming in. Naturally, we left a BIG tip.

Stephanie exemplified the three ingredients that my mentor Scott Gross likes to call Positively Outrageous Service:

1. Random,

2. Unexpected,

3. Out of proportion to the circumstance.

Just by listening and responding in an “extra mile” fashion, Stephanie gave us an “Outrageous” experience that put a smile on our faces and had us talking for days…in fact, I am still talking about it!

So, find something “outrageous” to do today…Positively Outrageous. It will put a smile on your client, customer or patient’s face and have them talking about you for days!

Feed The Fire

On the wall of my office is a large frame that contains my Eagle Scout Award and my picture as a high school student. One of our suppliers was in my office recently and spotted the frame and commented about the benefits of Scouting and then added, “That’s great you helped your SON get his Eagle.” Wow! I did not realize I looked that old!

Even though my experience in Scouting took place almost 3 decades ago, the lessons learned are as fresh as if they happened yesterday. They are lessons that serve me well today.

For example…

One of the keys to building, starting and maintaining a campfire is having and continually providing the right fuel. The fuel that it takes to start a fire is different than the fuel that it takes to keep the fire burning.

Translation…

Regularly I get asked what it takes to stay motivated; what it takes to keep the “fire” burning. There are a few basics that are required to start the fire of motivation and to keep it burning brightly:

1. A personal vision of what you are working to accomplish that excites you.

2. The right people that surround you who support and work with you to carry out that vision.

3. Continually adding knowledge to your brain bank of things that will move you closer to your vision.

4. Regularly feeding your mind with positive, uplifting literature and material that puts you and keeps you in the right frame of mind.

5. Regular physical exercise to keep your energy high. There is a direct correlation between your physical health and fitness and overall motivation.

So what are you doing to fuel the “fire?” Motivation is not something that happens to you any more than staring a fire is something that happens spontaneously. You make it happen by following simple rules.

So get on track with building and fueling your fire, whatever your fire is for. Find the fire, build it and let it burn bright. Just like I learned in Scouting, camping (life) is a lot more fun and enjoyable around a warm fire that burns bright than it is in the cold darkness of the wilderness.

Be Different

Psychologists tell us that there is a natural pull to want to be like those around us. At our ToPS seminars, that is something we have taught for years. It is important that your patients and clients see you as someone they can relate to; someone like them.

But when it comes to business, it can get you in trouble. Take the airlines for example. It seems like they all follow each other. One established a fee for baggage, they all follow suit. One quits serving snacks, they all jump on board.

Banks seem to do the same thing. Bank of America recently started charging a fee for using their debit card. Other banks are starting to follow right behind.

Wouldn’t it make more sense for a bank to start running ads that say, “Convenience shouldn’t cost, it should pay.” A bank could really capitalize by running in the opposite direction.

Take Southwest Airlines for example. While all the other airlines charge for checking bags, Southwest doesn’t. They are different. So different that they are just about the only airline that makes money!

So don’t be a follower when it comes to marketing your practice. Take a look around and go in the opposite direction. You’ll be noticed, recognized and appreciated by new patients who can tell you apart from all the rest.

It's not the money, it's the Perception of it.

I was at City Hall yesterday filling out the necessary paperwork for a sign permit. I struck up a conversation with the gentlemen next to me who was also filing paperwork for a sign permit. He mentioned he needed to see a dentist because he was interested in veneers on his six upper front teeth. Always eager to give one of our clients some business, I told him I happened to know a great dentist just down the street.

He went on to tell me about how he’d been to see this doctor before, but the cost they quoted him for a smile makeover was too expensive and how “back in the day” he remembers going to the dentist and it was “never that expensive.” At that moment I smiled to myself because I realized, it wasn’t about the money, it was about his perception of what he thought dental work should cost.

So really, your fees are not the problem. Perception is! You’ll gain far more ground by working on your patients’ perceptions than you will fretting over your fees.

But before you start looking for the magic phrase that will resolve someone’s questions about what you charge, remember that we often move too fast to solve patient problems that we really don’t understand. Maybe it is the scientist in us that looks for the perfect material, procedure, or instrument to treat the clinical problem. We have been trained for the “quick fix.”

People are not problems to be fixed. Just consider if someone says you are expense, is it could be because:

1. They have not been to the dentist for some time and are comparing today's fees to outdated fees? (Like our friend at City Hall).

2. They have never had a lot of dental work done, so they don't know what it costs.

3. They are having some financial stress so everything sounds expensive?

4. They are surprised because they thought they were just going to have to pay for a routine cleaning and then discovered that there is more work to be done?

5. They have never placed that much value on their mouth or their health and have not considered what it was really going to cost to stay in good shape?

6. It is the first time someone has had a conversation with them from a
“comprehensive care” point of view instead of just trying to maintain the status quo?

7. They just say that about everything to try and get a better deal!

The list could go on. The point is that it’s impossible to answer the question without first getting additional information. The same way you couldn’t tell a patient over the phone how to treat their toothache without first having done an exam to see the real condition.

Every patient has a unique situation…a story. Until you really understand them, their story, and their reason for asking, there's no quick fix verbal skill that will answer their question. It's about the relationship first, not the case or your fees.

So the next time you get the “Why are you so expensive?” question or one similar to it, just stop. Take a deep breath. And listen as you ask…"Tell me more about that.” You might be surprised to hear what comes next. The reason behind the question will most likely be something you had not anticipated.

Administrate or Innovate

Leadership in any line requires many different skills. Some are in direct opposition to each other. For example: administration vs. innovation.

Administration is the skill of managing people and organizations so that everything runs smoothly and stays aligned with policies and procedures. In many ways, it is the art of maintaining the status quo.

Innovation is the art of progress and change. Many times it requires challenging the status quo by looking at things in a different way and acting outside the “norm.”
As a general rule, for every innovator, there are 10 administrators. As humans, we crave stability and the status quo. It feels safe to us because of the consistency. Because of that natural tendency, most have to consciously work at innovation. The irony is that while administration feels safe, innovation is the essential ingredient to surviving and thriving.

History lauds, honors and praises the innovators, but is relatively quiet about the administrators. That’s because we admire the rare and take the common for granted.

History honors Thomas Edison as one of the most important figures of the 20th century. Why? Because his numerous innovations changed the way we live. Meanwhile, can you name any one of the administrators that ran Edison Electric or General Electric in the subsequent years? If you can, the only one that comes to mind is Jack Welch because he dramatically innovated the way General Electric approached its business.

So, step out of administration from time-to-time and INNOVATE! Ask:

- How can I make things better?

- What type of business would put me out of business?

- What would we look like if we expanded by 10 times?

- What weakness would I exploit if I were my competition?

- What is something I would never consider changing?

If you want something to administrate in the future, you better start innovating today!